Oracle7 Server SQL Reference Manual

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Operators, Functions, Expressions, Conditions

• operators

• SQL functions

• user functions

• format models

• expressions

• conditions

Operators

Unary and Binary Operators

unary

A unary operator operates on only one operand. A unary operator typically appears with its operand in this format:

operator operand

binary

A binary operator operates on two operands. A binary operator appears with its operands in this format:

operand1 operator operand2

Other operators with special formats accept more than two operands. If an operator is given a null operator, the result is always null. The only operator that does not follow this rule is concatenation (||).

Precedence

Table 3 - 1 lists the levels of precedence among SQL operators from high to low. Operators listed on the same line have the same precedence.

Highest Precedence
Unary + - arithmetic operators	PRIOR Operator
* / arithmetic operators
Binary = - arithmetic operators	|| character operators
All comparison operators
NOT logical operator
AND logical operator
OR logical operator
Table 3 - 1. SQL Operator Precedence

You can use parentheses in an expression to override operator precedence. Oracle7 evaluates expressions inside parentheses before evaluating those outside.

SQL also supports set operators (UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT, and MINUS) which combine sets of rows returned by queries, rather than individual data items. All set operators have equal precedence.

Example

In the following expression multiplication has a higher precedence than addition, so Oracle7 first multiplies 2 by 3 and then adds the result to 1.

1+2*3 

Arithmetic Operators

Operator	Purpose	Example
+ -	Denotes a positive or negative expression. These are unary operators.	SELECT * FROM orders WHERE qtysold = -1 SELECT * FROM emp WHERE -sal < 0
* /	Multiplies, divides. These are binary operators.	UPDATE emp SET sal = sal * 1.1
+ -	Adds, subtracts. These are binary operators.	SELECT sal + comm FROM emp WHERE SYSDATE - hiredate > 365
Table 3 - 2. Arithmetic Operators

Do not use consecutive minus signs with no separation (- -) in arithmetic expressions to indicate double negation or the subtraction of a negative value. The characters - - are used to begin comments within SQL statements. You should separate consecutive minus signs with a space or a parenthesis. For more information on comments within SQL statements, see the section "Comments" .

Character Operators

Operator	Purpose	Example
||	Concatenates character strings.	SELECT 'Name is ' || ename FROM emp
Table 3 - 3. Character Operators

The result of concatenating two character strings is another character string. If both character strings are of datatype CHAR, the result has datatype CHAR and is limited to 255 characters. If either string is of datatype VARCHAR2, the result has datatype VARCHAR2 and is limited to 2000 characters. Trailing blanks in character strings are preserved by concatenation, regardless of the strings' datatypes. For more information on the differences between the CHAR and VARCHAR2 datatypes, see the section "Character Datatypes" .

On most platforms, the concatenation operator is two solid vertical bars, as shown in Table 3 - 3. However, some IBM platforms use broken vertical bars for this operator. When moving SQL script files between systems having different character sets, such as between ASCII and EBCDIC, vertical bars might not be translated into the vertical bar required by the target Oracle7 environment. Because it may be difficult or impossible to control translation performed by operating system or network utilities, the CONCAT character function is provided as an alternative to the vertical bar operator. Its use is recommended in applications that will be moved to environments with differing character sets.

Although Oracle7 treats zero-length character strings as nulls, concatenating a zero-length character string with another operand always results in the other operand, so null can only result from the concatenation of two null strings. However, this may not continue to be true in future versions of Oracle7. To concatenate an expression that might be null, use the NVL function to explicitly convert the expression to a zero-length string.

Example

This example creates a table with both CHAR and VARCHAR2 columns, inserts values both with and without trailing blanks, and then selects these values, concatenating them. Note that for both CHAR and VARCHAR2 columns, the trailing blanks are preserved.

CREATE TABLE tab1 (col1 VARCHAR2(6), col2 CHAR(6),
        col3 VARCHAR2(6), col4 CHAR(6) );

Table created.

INSERT INTO tab1 (col1,  col2,     col3,     col4)
        VALUES   ('abc', 'def   ', 'ghi   ', 'jkl');

1 row created.

SELECT col1||col2||col3||col4 "Concatenation"
        FROM tab1;

Concatenation
------------------------
abcdef   ghi   jkl

Comparison Operators

Operator	Purpose	Example
?	Equality test.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal = 1500
!? ?? ?? < >	Inequality test. All forms of the inequality operator may not be available on all platforms.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal != 1500
> <	"Greater than" and "less than" tests.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal > 1500 SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal < 1500
>? <?	"Greater than or equal to" and "less than or equal to" tests.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal >= 1500 SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal >= 1500
IN	"Equal to any member of" test. Equivalent to "= ANY".	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE job IN ('CLERK','ANALYST') SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal IN (SELECT sal FROM emp WHERE deptno = 30)
NOT IN	Equivalent to "!=ALL". Evaluates to FALSE if any member of the set is NULL.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal NOT IN (SELECT sal FROM emp WHERE deptno = 30) SELECT * FROM emp WHERE job NOT IN ('CLERK', ANALYST')
ANY SOME	Compares a value to each value in a list or returned by a query. Must be preceded by =, !=, >, <, <=, >=. Evaluates to FALSE if the query returns no rows.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal = ANY (SELECT sal FROM emp WHERE deptno = 30)
ALL	Compares a value to every value in a list or returned by a query. Must be preceded by =, !=, >, <, <=, >=. Evaluates to TRUE if the query returns no rows.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal >= ALL ( 1400, 3000)
[NOT] BETWEEN x AND y	[Not] greater than or equal to x and less than or equal to y.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE sal BETWEEN 2000 AND 3000
EXISTS	TRUE if a subquery returns at least one row.	SELECT dname, deptno FROM dept WHERE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM emp WHERE dept.deptno = emp.deptno)
x [NOT] LIKE y [ESCAPE 'z']	TRUE if x does [not] match the pattern y. Within y, the character "%" matches any string of zero or more characters except null. The character "_" matches any single character. Any character, excepting percent (%) and underbar (_) may follow ESCAPE; a wilcard character will be treated as a literal if preceded by the escape character.	See the section "LIKE Operator" beginning . SELECT * FROM tab1 WHERE col1 LIKE 'A_C/%E%' ESCAPE '/'
IS [NOT] NULL	Tests for nulls. This is the only operator that should be used to test for nulls. See the section "Nulls" .	SELECT dname, deptno FROM emp WHERE comm IS NULL

Table 3 - 4. Comparison Operators

NOT IN Operator

SELECT 'TRUE' 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno NOT IN (5,15) 

However, the following statement returns no rows:

SELECT 'TRUE' 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno NOT IN (5,15,null) 

The above example returns no rows because the WHERE clause condition evaluates to:

deptno != 5 AND deptno != 15 AND deptno != null 

Because all conditions that compare a null result in null, the entire expression results in a null. This behavior can easily be overlooked, especially when the NOT IN operator references a subquery.

LIKE Operator

where:

char1

is a value to be compared with a pattern. This value can have datatype CHAR or VARCHAR2.

NOT

logically inverts the result of the condition, returning FALSE if the condition evaluates to TRUE and TRUE if it evaluates to FALSE.

char2

is the pattern to which char1 is compared. The pattern is a value of datatype CHAR or VARCHAR2 and can contain the special pattern matching characters % and _.

ESCAPE

identifies a single character as the escape character. The escape character can be used to cause Oracle7 to interpret % or _ literally, rather than as a special character, in the pattern.

If you wish to search for strings containing an escape character, you must specify this character twice. For example, if the escape character is '/', to search for the string 'client/server', you must specify, 'client//server'.

While the equal (=) operator exactly matches one character value to another, the LIKE operator matches a portion of one character value to another by searching the first value for the pattern specified by the second. Note that blank padding is not used for LIKE comparisons.

With the LIKE operator, you can compare a value to a pattern rather than to a constant. The pattern can only appear after the LIKE keyword. For example, you can issue the following query to find the salaries of all employees with names beginning with 'SM':

SELECT sal 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE ename LIKE 'SM%' 

The following query uses the = operator, rather than the LIKE operator, to find the salaries of all employees with the name 'SM%':

SELECT sal 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE ename = 'SM%' 

The following query finds the salaries of all employees with the name 'SM%'. Oracle7 interprets 'SM%' as a text literal, rather than as a pattern, because it precedes the LIKE operator:

SELECT sal 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE 'SM%' LIKE ename 

Patterns usually use special characters that Oracle7 matches with different characters in the value:

• An underscore (_) in the pattern matches exactly one character (as opposed to one byte in a multi-byte character set) in the value.

• A percent sign (%) in the pattern can match zero or more characters (as opposed to bytes in a multi-byte character set) in the value. Note that the pattern '%' cannot match a null.

UPPER(ename) LIKE 'SM%' 

Pattern Matching on Indexed Columns When LIKE is used to search an indexed column for a pattern, Oracle7 can use the index to improve the statement's performance if the leading character in the pattern is not "%" or "_". In this case, Oracle7 can scan the index by this leading character. If the first character in the pattern is "%" or "_", the index cannot improve the query's performance because Oracle7 cannot scan the index.

Example I

This condition is true for all ENAME values beginning with "MA":

ename LIKE 'MA%' 

All of these ENAME values make the condition TRUE:

MARTIN, MA, MARK, MARY 

Since case is significant, ENAME values beginning with "Ma," "ma," and "mA" make the condition FALSE.

Example II

Consider this condition:

ename LIKE 'SMITH_' 

This condition is true for these ENAME values:

SMITHE, SMITHY, SMITHS 

This condition is false for 'SMITH', since the special character "_" must match exactly one character of the ENAME value.

ESCAPE Option You can include the actual characters "%" or "_" in the pattern by using the ESCAPE option. The ESCAPE option identifies the escape character. If the escape character appears in the pattern before the character "%" or "_" then Oracle7 interprets this character literally in the pattern, rather than as a special pattern matching character.

Example III

To search for any employees with the pattern 'A_B' in their name:

SELECT ename 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE ename LIKE '%A\_B%' ESCAPE '\' 

The ESCAPE option identifies the backslash (\) as the escape character. In the pattern, the escape character precedes the underscore (_). This causes Oracle7 to interpret the underscore literally, rather than as a special pattern matching character.

Patterns Without % If a pattern does not contain the "%" character, the condition can only be TRUE if both operands have the same length.

Example IV

Consider the definition of this table and the values inserted into it:

CREATE TABLE freds (f CHAR(6), v VARCHAR2(6)) 

INSERT INTO freds VALUES ('FRED', 'FRED') 

Because Oracle7 blank-pads CHAR values, the value of F is blank-padded to 6 bytes. V is not blank-padded and has length 4. Table 3 - 5 shows conditions that evaluate to TRUE and FALSE.

Logical Operators

Operator	Function	Example
NOT	Returns TRUE if the following condition is FALSE. Returns FALSE if it is TRUE. If it is UNKNOWN, it remains UNKNOWN	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE NOT (job IS NULL) SELECT * FROM emp WHERE NOT (sal BETWEEN 1000 AND 2000)
AND	Returns TRUE if both component conditions are TRUE. Returns FALSE if either is FALSE. Otherwise returns UNKNOWN.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE job = 'CLERK' AND deptno = 10
OR	Returns TRUE if either component condition is TRUE. Returns FALSE if both are FALSE. Otherwise returns UNKNOWN.	SELECT * FROM emp WHERE job = 'CLERK' OR deptno = 10
Table 3 - 5. Logical Operators

For example, in the WHERE clause of the following SELECT statement, the AND logical operator is used to ensure that only those hired before 1984 and earning more than $1000 a month are returned:

SELECT * 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE hiredate < TO_DATE('01-JAN-1984', 'DD-MON-YYYY') 
	  AND sal > 1000 

NOT Operator

NOT	TRUE	FALSE	UNKNOWN
	FALSE	TRUE	UNKNOWN
Table 3 - 6. NOT Truth Table

AND Operator

AND	TRUE	FALSE	UNKNOWN
TRUE	TRUE	FALSE	UNKNOWN
FALSE	FALSE	FALSE	FALSE
UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN	FALSE	UNKNOWN
Table 3 - 7. AND Truth Table

OR Operator

OR	TRUE	FALSE	UNKNOWN
TRUE	TRUE	TRUE	TRUE
FALSE	TRUE	FALSE	UNKNOWN
UNKNOWN	TRUE	UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN
Table 3 - 8. OR Truth Table

Set Operators

Operator	Returns
UNION	All rows selected by either query.
UNION ALL	All rows selected by either query, including all duplicates.
INTERSECT	All distinct rows selected by both queries.
MINUS	All distinct rows selected by the first query but not the second.
Table 3 - 9. Set Operators

All set operators have equal precedence. If a SQL statement contains multiple set operators, Oracle7 evaluates them from the left to right if no parentheses explicitly specify another order. To comply with emerging SQL standards, a future version of Oracle7 will give the INTERSECT operator greater precedence than the other set operators, so you should use parentheses to explicitly specify order of evaluation in queries that use the INTERSECT operator with other set operators.

The corresponding expressions in the select lists of the component queries of a compound query must match in number and datatype. If component queries select character data, the datatype of the return values are determined as follows:

• If both queries select values of datatype CHAR, the returned values have datatype CHAR.

• If either or both of the queries select values of datatype VARCHAR2, the returned values have datatype VARCHAR2.

Examples

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list1 

PART 
---------- 
SPARKPLUG 
FUEL PUMP 
FUEL PUMP TAILPIPE 

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list2

PART 
---------- 
CRANKSHAFT 
TAILPIPE 
TAILPIPE 

The following examples combine the two query results with each of the set operators.

UNION Example

The following statement combines the results with the UNION operator, which eliminates duplicate selected rows:

The following statement shows how datatype must match when columns do not exist in one or the other table:

SELECT part, partnum, to_date(null) date_in
	FROM orders_list1
UNION
SELECT part, to_null(null), date_in
	FROM orders_list2

PART       PARTNUM DATE_IN
---------- ------- -------- 
SPARKPLUS  3323165 
SPARKPLUG          10/24/98
FUEL PUMP  3323162
FUEL PUMP          12/24/99
TAILPIPE   1332999
TAILPIPE           01/01/01
CRANKSHAFT 9394991
CRANKSHAFT         09/12/02

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list1 
UNION 
SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list2 

PART 
---------- 
SPARKPLUG 
FUEL PUMP 
TAILPIPE 
CRANKSHAFT 

UNION ALL Example

The following statement combines the results with the UNION ALL operator which does not eliminate duplicate selected rows:

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list1 
UNION ALL 
SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list2

PART 
---------- 
SPARKPLUG 
FUEL PUMP 
FUEL PUMP 
TAILPIPE 
CRANKSHAFT 
TAILPIPE 
TAILPIPE 

Note that the UNION operator returns only distinct rows that appear in either result, while the UNION ALL operator returns all rows. A PART value that appears multiple times in either or both queries (such as 'FUEL PUMP') is returned only once by the UNION operator, but multiple times by the UNION ALL operator.

INTERSECT Example

The following statement combines the results with the INTERSECT operator which returns only those rows returned by both queries:

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list1 
INTERSECT 
SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list2 

PART 
---------- 
TAILPIPE 

MINUS Example

The following statement combines the results with the MINUS operator which returns only those rows returned by the first query but not in the second:

SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list1 
MINUS 
SELECT part 
	FROM orders_list2 

PART 
---------- 
SPARKPLUG 
FUEL PUMP 

Other Operators

Operator	Purpose	Example
(+)	Indicates that the preceding column is the outer join column in a join. See the section "Outer Joins" on page 4 - 425.	SELECT ename, dname FROM emp, dept WHERE dept.deptno = emp.deptno(+)
PRIOR	Evaluates the following expression for the parent row of the current row in a hierarchical, or tree-structured, query. In such a query, you must use this operator in the CONNECT BY clause to define the relationship between parent and child rows. You can also use this operator in other parts of a SELECT statement that performs a hierarchical query. The PRIOR operator is a unary operator and has the same precedence as the unary + and - arithmetic operators. See the section "Hierarchical Queries" .	SELECT empno, ename, mgr FROM emp CONNECT BY PRIOR empno = mgr
Table 3 - 10. Other SQL Operators

SQL Functions

function(argument, argument, ...) 

If you call a SQL function with an argument of a datatype other than the datatype expected by the SQL function, Oracle7 implicitly converts the argument to the expected datatype before performing the SQL function. See the section "Data Conversion" .

If you call a SQL function with a null argument, the SQL function automatically returns null. The only SQL functions that do not follow this rule are CONCAT, DECODE, DUMP, NVL, and REPLACE.

SQL functions should not be confused with user functions written in PL/SQL. User functions are described .

In the syntax diagrams for SQL functions, arguments are indicated with their datatypes following the conventions described in the Preface of this manual.

SQL functions are of these general types:

• single row (or scalar) functions

• group (or aggregate) functions

Single row functions can appear in select lists (provided the SELECT statement does not contain a GROUP BY clause), WHERE clauses, START WITH clauses, and CONNECT BY clauses.

Group functions can appear in select lists and HAVING clauses. If you use the GROUP BY clause in a SELECT statement, Oracle7 divides the rows of a queried table or view into groups. In a query containing a GROUP BY clause, all elements of the select list must be either expressions from the GROUP BY clause, expressions containing group functions, or constants. Oracle7 applies the group functions in the select list to each group of rows and returns a single result row for each group.

If you omit the GROUP BY clause, Oracle7 applies group functions in the select list to all the rows in the queried table or view. You use group functions in the HAVING clause to eliminate groups from the output based on the results of the group functions, rather than on the values of the individual rows of the queried table or view. For more information on the GROUP BY and HAVING clauses, see the section "GROUP BY Clause" and the section "HAVING Clause" .

Single Row Functions

Number Functions

ABS

Purpose

Returns the absolute value of n

Example

SELECT ABS(-15) "Absolute" 
	FROM DUAL 

  Absolute
----------
        15

ACOS

Purpose

Returns the arc cosine of n. Inputs are in the range of -1 to 1, and outputs are in the range of 0 to pi and are expressed in radians.

Example

SELECT ACOS(.3) "Arc_Cosine"
	FROM DUAL 

Arc_Cosine
----------
1.26610367

ASIN

Purpose

Returns the arc sine of n. Inputs are in the range of -1 to 1, and outputs are in the range of -pi/2 to pi/2 and are expressed in radians.

Example

SELECT ASIN(.3) "Arc_Sine" 
	FROM DUAL 

  Arc_Sine
----------
.304692654

ATAN

Purpose

Returns the arc tangent of n. Inputs are in an unbounded range, and outputs are in the range of -pi/2 to pi/2 and are expressed in radians.

Example

SELECT ATAN(.3) "Arc_Tangent" 
	FROM DUAL 

Arc_Tangent
_----------
 .291456794

ATAN2

Purpose

Returns the arc tangent of n and m. Inputs are in an unbounded range, and outputs are in the range of -pi to pi, depending on the signs of x and y, and are expressed in radians. Atan2(x,y) is the same as atan2(x/y)

Example

SELECT ATAN2(.3, .2) "Arc_Tangent2" 
	FROM DUAL 

Arc_Tangent2
------------
  .982793723

CEIL

Purpose

Returns smallest integer greater than or equal to n.

Example

SELECT CEIL(15.7) "Ceiling" 
	FROM DUAL

   Ceiling
----------
        16

COS

Purpose

Returns the cosine of n (an angle expressed in radians).

Example

SELECT COS(180 * 3.14159265359/180)
"Cosine of 180 degrees" 
	FROM DUAL 

Cosine of 180 degrees
---------------------
                   -1

COSH

Purpose

Returns the hyperbolic cosine of n.

Example

SELECT COSH(0) "Hyperbolic cosine of 0"
	 FROM DUAL 

Hyperbolic cosine of 0
----------------------
                     1 

EXP

Purpose

Returns e raised to the nth power; e = 2.71828183 ...

Example

SELECT EXP(4) "e to the 4th power" 
	FROM DUAL

e to the 4th power
------------------
          54.59815 

FLOOR

Purpose

Returns largest integer equal to or less than n.

Example

SELECT FLOOR(15.7) "Floor" 
	FROM DUAL

     Floor
----------
        15

LN

Purpose

Returns the natural logarithm of n, where n is greater than 0.

Example

SELECT LN(95) "Natural log of 95" 
	FROM DUAL

Natural log of 95
-----------------
       4.55387689  

LOG

Purpose

Returns the logarithm, base m, of n. The base m can be any positive number other than 0 or 1 and n can be any positive number.

Example

SELECT LOG(10,100) "Log base 10 of 100"
	FROM DUAL 

Log base 10 of 100
------------------
                 2 

MOD

Purpose

Returns remainder of m divided by n. Returns m if n is 0.

Example

SELECT MOD(11,4) "Modulus" 
	FROM DUAL

   Modulus
----------
         3

Note

This function behaves differently from the classical mathematical modulus function when m is negative. The classical modulus can be expressed using the MOD function with this formula:

m - n * FLOOR(m/n)

Example

The following statement illustrates the difference between the MOD function and the classical modulus:

SELECT m, n, MOD(m, n),
m - n * FLOOR(m/n) "Classical Modulus"
	FROM test_mod_table

  M   N MOD (M,N) Classical Modulus
--- ---- -------- --------- -------
 11   4        3
-11   4       -3                  1
 11  -4        3                 -1
-11  -4       -3                 -3

POWER

Purpose

Returns m raised to the nth power. The base m and the exponent n can be any numbers, but if m is negative, n must be an integer.

Example

SELECT POWER(3,2) "Raised" 
	FROM DUAL 

    Raised
----------
         9

ROUND

Purpose

Returns n rounded to m places right of the decimal point; if m is omitted, to 0 places. m can be negative to round off digits left of the decimal point. m must be an integer.

Example

SELECT ROUND(15.193,1) "Round" 
	FROM DUAL 

     Round
----------
      15.2

Example

SELECT ROUND(15.193,-1) "Round" 
	FROM DUAL 

     Round
----------
        20

SIGN

Purpose

If n<0, the function returns -1; if n=0, the function returns 0; if n>0, the function returns 1.

Example

SELECT SIGN(-15) "Sign" 
	FROM DUAL 

      Sign
----------
        -1

SIN

Purpose

Returns the sine of n (an angle expressed in radians).

Example

SELECT SIN(30 * 3.14159265359/180)
 "Sine of 30 degrees"
	FROM DUAL 

Sine of 30 degrees
------------------
                .5

SINH

Purpose

Returns the hyperbolic sine of n.

Example

SELECT SINH(1) "Hyperbolic sine of 1"
	FROM DUAL

Hyperbolic sine of 1
--------------------
          1.17520119 

SQRT

Purpose

Returns square root of n. The value n cannot be negative. SQRT returns a "real" result.

Example

SELECT SQRT(26) "Square root" 
	FROM DUAL 

Square root
-----------
 5.09901951 

TAN

Purpose

Returns the tangent of n (an angle expressed in radians).

Example

SELECT TAN(135 * 3.14159265359/180)
"Tangent of 135 degrees"
	FROM DUAL 

Tangent of 135 degrees
----------------------
                    -1 

TANH

Purpose

Returns the hyperbolic tangent of n.

Example

SELECT TANH(.5) "Hyperbolic tangent of .5"
	FROM DUAL 

Hyperbolic tangent of .5
------------------------
              .462117157 

TRUNC

Purpose

Returns n truncated to m decimal places; if m is omitted, to 0 places. m can be negative to truncate (make zero) m digits left of the decimal point.

Examples

SELECT TRUNC(15.79,1) "Truncate" 
	FROM DUAL  

  Truncate
----------
      15.7

SELECT TRUNC(15.79,-1) "Truncate"
 	FROM DUAL  

  Truncate
----------
        10

Character Functions

Character Functions Returning Character Values

CHR

Purpose

Returns the character having the binary equivalent to n in the database character set.

Example

SELECT CHR(67)||CHR(65)||CHR(84) "Dog"
        FROM DUAL

Dog
---
CAT

CONCAT

Purpose

Returns char1 concatenated with char2. This function is equivalent to the concatenation operator (||). For information on this operator, see the section "Character" .

Example

This example uses nesting to concatenate three character strings:

SELECT CONCAT( CONCAT(ename, ' is a '), job) "Job"
	FROM emp
	WHERE empno = 7900

Job
-------------------------
JAMES is a CLERK

INITCAP

Purpose

Returns char, with the first letter of each word in uppercase, all other letters in lowercase. Words are delimited by white space or characters that are not alphanumeric.

Example

SELECT INITCAP('the soap') "Capitals" 
	FROM DUAL 

Capitals
--------
The Soap 

LOWER

Purpose

Returns char, with all letters lowercase. The return value has the same datatype as the argument char (CHAR or VARCHAR2).

Example

SELECT LOWER('MR. SAMUEL HILLHOUSE') "Lowercase"
	FROM DUAL 

Lowercase
--------------------
mr. samuel hillhouse 

LPAD

Purpose

Returns char1, left-padded to length n with the sequence of characters in char2; char2 defaults to a single blank. If char1 is longer than n, this function returns the portion of char1 that fits in n.

The argument n is the total length of the return value as it is displayed on your terminal screen. In most character sets, this is also the number of characters in the return value. However, in some multi-byte character sets, the display length of a character string can differ from the number of characters in the string.

Example

SELECT LPAD('Page 1',15,'*.') "LPAD example"
	FROM DUAL 

LPAD example
---------------
*.*.*.*.*Page 1

LTRIM

Purpose

Removes characters from the left of char, with all the leftmost characters that appear in set removed; set defaults to a single blank. Oracle7 begins scanning char from its first character and removes all characters that appear in set until reaching a character not in set and then returns the result.

Example

SELECT LTRIM('xyxXxyLAST WORD','xy') "LTRIM example"
        FROM DUAL

LTRIM example
-------------
Xxy LAST WORD

NLS_INITCAP

Purpose

Returns char, with the first letter of each word in uppercase, all other letters in lowercase. Words are delimited by white space or characters that are not alphanumeric. The value of 'nlsparams' can have this form:

'NLS_SORT = sort'

where sort is either a linguistic sort sequence or BINARY. The linguistic sort sequence handles special linguistic requirements for case conversions. Note that these requirements can result in a return value of a different length than the char. If you omit 'nlsparams', this function uses the default sort sequence for your session. For information on sort sequences, see Oracle7 Server Reference.

Example

SELECT NLS_INITCAP('ijsland', 'NLS_SORT = XDutch') "Capitalized"
	FROM DUAL 

Capital
-------
IJsland

NLS_LOWER

Purpose

Returns char, with all letters lowercase. The 'nlsparams' can have the same form and serve the same purpose as in the NLS_INITCAP function.

Example

SELECT NLS_LOWER('CITTA''', 'NLS_SORT = XGerman')
"Lowercase"
	FROM DUAL  

Lower
-----
città

NLS_UPPER

Purpose

Returns char, with all letters uppercase. The 'nlsparams' can have the same form and serve the same purpose as in the NLS_INITCAP function.

Example

SELECT NLS_UPPER('gro?e', 'NLS_SORT = XGerman') "Uppercase"
	FROM DUAL 

Upper
-----
GROSS 

REPLACE

Purpose

Returns char with every occurrence of search_string replaced with replacement_string. If replacement_string is omitted or null, all occurrences of search_string are removed. If search_string is null, char is returned. This function provides a superset of the functionality provided by the TRANSLATE function. TRANSLATE provides single character, one to one, substitution. REPLACE allows you to substitute one string for another as well as to remove character strings.

Example

SELECT REPLACE('JACK and JUE','J','BL') "Changes"
	FROM DUAL 

Changes
--------------
BLACK and BLUE

RPAD

Purpose

Returns char1, right-padded to length n with char2, replicated as many times as necessary; char2 defaults to a single blank. If char1 is longer than n, this function returns the portion of char1 that fits in n.

The argument n is the total length of the return value as it is displayed on your terminal screen. In most character sets, this is also the number of characters in the return value. However, in some multi-byte character sets, the display length of a character string can differ from the number of characters in the string.

Example

SELECT RPAD(ename,12,'ab') "RPAD example"
	FROM emp
	WHERE ename = 'TURNER' 

RPAD example
------------
TURNERababab

RTRIM

Purpose

Returns char, with all the rightmost characters that appear in set removed; set defaults to a single blank. RTRIM works similarly to LTRIM.

Example

SELECT RTRIM('TURNERyxXxy','xy') "RTRIM e.g." 
	FROM DUAL 

RTRIM e.g
---------
TURNERyxX

SOUNDEX

Purpose

Returns a character string containing the phonetic representation of char. This function allows you to compare words that are spelled differently, but sound alike in English.

The phonetic representation is defined in The Art of Computer Programming, Volume 3: Sorting and Searching, by Donald E. Knuth, as follows:

• retain the first letter of the string and remove the following letters: a, e, h, i, o, w, y

• assign the numbers to the remaining letters as follows: 0 = a, e, h, i, o, w, y 1 = b, f, p, v 2 = c, e, g, j, k, q, s, x, z 3 = d, t = 3 4 = l 5 = m, n r = 6

• if two or more of the numbers are in sequences, remove all but the first

• return the first four bytes padded with 0

Example

SELECT ename
	FROM emp
	WHERE SOUNDEX(ename)
	    = SOUNDEX('SMYTHE') 

ENAME
----------
SMITH 

SUBSTR

Purpose

Returns a portion of char, beginning at character m, n characters long. If m is 0, it is treated as 1. If m is positive, Oracle7 counts from the beginning of char to find the first character. If m is negative, Oracle7 counts backwards from the end of char. If n is omitted, Oracle7 returns all characters to the end of char. If n is less than 1, a null is returned.

Floating point numbers passed as arguments to substr are automatically converted to integers.

Example

SELECT SUBSTR('ABCDEFG',3.1,4) "Subs" 
	FROM DUAL 

Subs
----
CDEF 

SELECT SUBSTR('ABCDEFG',-5,4) "Subs"
	FROM DUAL 

Subs
----
CDEF

SUBSTRB

Purpose

The same as SUBSTR, except that the arguments m and n are expressed in bytes, rather than in characters. For a single-byte database character set, SUBSTRB is equivalent to SUBSTR.

Floating point numbers passed as arguments to substrb are automatically converted to integers.

Example

Assume a double-byte database character set:

SELECT SUBSTRB('ABCDEFG',5,4.2) "Substring with bytes"
	FROM DUAL 

Sub
---
CD

TRANSLATE

Purpose

Returns char with all occurrences of each character in from replaced by its corresponding character in to. Characters in char that are not in from are not replaced. The argument from can contain more characters than to. In this case, the extra characters at the end of from have no corresponding characters in to. If these extra characters appear in char, they are removed from the return value. You cannot use an empty string for to to remove all characters in from from the return value. Oracle7 interprets the empty string as null, and if this function has a null argument, it returns null.

Examples

The following statement translates a license number. All letters 'ABC...Z' are translated to 'X' and all digits '012...9' are translated to '9':

SELECT TRANSLATE('2KRW229', '0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', '9999999999XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX') "Licence"
	FROM DUAL  

Translate example
-----------------
9XXX999 

The following statement returns a license number with the characters removed and the digits remaining:

SELECT TRANSLATE('2KRW229', '0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ', '0123456789')
"Translate example"
 	FROM DUAL 

Translate example
-----------------
2229 

UPPER

Purpose

Returns char, with all letters uppercase. The return value has the same datatype as the argument char.

Example

SELECT UPPER('Large') "Uppercase" 
	FROM DUAL 

Uppercase
---------
LARGE

Character Functions Returning Number Values

ASCII

Purpose

Returns the decimal representation in the database character set of the first byte of char. If your database character set is 7-bit ASCII, this function returns an ASCII value. If your database character set is EBCDIC Code Page 500, this function returns an EBCDIC value. Note that there is no similar EBCDIC character function.

Example

SELECT ASCII('Q') 
	FROM DUAL 

ASCII('Q')
----------
        81

INSTR

Purpose

Searches char1 beginning with its nth character for the mth occurrence of char2 and returns the position of the character in char1 that is the first character of this occurrence. If n is negative, Oracle7 counts and searches backward from the end of char1. The value of m must be positive. The default values of both n and m are 1, meaning Oracle7 begins searching at the first character of char1 for the first occurrence of char2. The return value is relative to the beginning of char1, regardless of the value of n, and is expressed in characters. If the search is unsuccessful (if char2 does not appear m times after the nth character of char1) the return value is 0.

Examples

SELECT INSTR('CORPORATE FLOOR','OR', 3, 2) "Instring" 
	FROM DUAL

Instring
 ---------
        14

SELECT INSTR('CORPORATE FLOOR','OR', -3, 2)
"Reversed Instring" 
	FROM DUAL 

Reversed Instring
-----------------
                2

INSTRB

Purpose

The same as INSTR, except that n and the return value are expressed in bytes, rather than in characters. For a single-byte database character set, INSTRB is equivalent to INSTR.

Example

SELECT INSTRB('CORPORATE FLOOR','OR',5,2)
"Instring in bytes" 
	FROM DUAL 

Instring in bytes
-----------------
               27

LENGTH

Purpose

Returns the length of char in characters. If char has datatype CHAR, the length includes all trailing blanks. If char is null, this function returns null.

Example

SELECT LENGTH('CANDIDE') "Length in characters"
	FROM DUAL 

Length in characters
--------------------
                   7

LENGTHB

Purpose

Returns the length of char in bytes. If char is null, this function returns null. For a single-byte database character set, LENGTHB is equivalent to LENGTH.

Example

Assume a double-byte database character set:

SELECT LENGTH('CANDIDE') "Length in bytes"
	FROM DUAL 

Length in bytes
---------------
             14

NLSSORT

Purpose

Returns the string of bytes used to sort char. The value of 'nlsparams' can have the form

			'NLS_SORT = sort'

where sort is a linguistic sort sequence or BINARY. If you omit 'nlsparams', this function uses the default sort sequence for your session. If you specify BINARY, this function returns char. For information on sort sequences, see the "National Language Support" chapter of Oracle7 Server Reference..

Example

This function can be used to specify comparisons based on a linguistic sort sequence rather on the binary value of a string:

SELECT * FROM emp 
	WHERE NLSSORT(ename,'NLS_SORT = German')
	> NLSSORT('B','NLS_SORT = German')

Date Functions

ADD_MONTHS

Purpose

Returns the date d plus n months. The argument n can be any integer. If d is the last day of the month or if the resulting month has fewer days than the day component of d, then the result is the last day of the resulting month. Otherwise, the result has the same day component as d.

Example

SELECT TO_CHAR(
	ADD_MONTHS(hiredate,1),
	'DD-MON-YYYY') "Next month"
	FROM emp 
	WHERE ename = 'SMITH'

Next Month
-----------
17-JAN-1981

LAST_DAY

Purpose

Returns the date of the last day of the month that contains d. You might use this function to determine how many days are left in the current month.

Example

SELECT SYSDATE,
	LAST_DAY(SYSDATE) "Last", 
	LAST_DAY(SYSDATE) - SYSDATE "Days Left"
	FROM DUAL 

SYSDATE   Last       Days Left
--------- --------- ----------
10-APR-95 30-APR-95         20

SELECT TO_CHAR(
	ADD_MONTHS(
		LAST_DAY(hiredate),5),
		'DD-MON-YYYY') "Five months"
	FROM emp 
	WHERE ename = 'MARTIN' 

Five months
-----------
28-FEB-1982

SELECT TO_CHAR(ADD_MONTHS(hiredate,1),

'DD-MON-YYYY') "Next month" FROM emp WHERE ename = 'SMITH' Next month ----------- 17-JAN-1981

MONTHS_BETWEEN

Purpose

Returns number of months between dates d1 and d2. If d1 is later than d2, result is positive; if earlier, negative. If d1 and d2 are either the same days of the month or both last days of months, the result is always an integer; otherwise Oracle7 calculates the fractional portion of the result based on a 31-day month and considers the difference in time components of d1 and d2.

Example

SELECT MONTHS_BETWEEN(
	TO_DATE('02-02-1995','MM-DD-YYYY'),
	TO_DATE('01-01-1995','MM-DD-YYYY') ) "Months" 
	FROM DUAL 

    Months
----------
1.03225806

NEW_TIME

Purpose

Returns the date and time in time zone z2 when date and time in time zone z1 are d. The arguments z1 and z2 can be any of these text strings:

AST ADT	Atlantic Standard or Daylight Time
BST BDT	Bering Standard or Daylight Time
CST CDT	Central Standard or Daylight Time
EST EDT	Eastern Standard or Daylight Time
GMT	Greenwich Mean Time
HST HDT	Alaska-Hawaii Standard Time or Daylight Time.
MST MDT	Mountain Standard or Daylight Time
NST	Newfoundland Standard Time
PST PDT	Pacific Standard or Daylight Time
YST YDT	Yukon Standard or Daylight Time

NEXT_DAY

Purpose

Returns the date of the first weekday named by char that is later than the date d. The argument char must be a day of the week in your session's date language. The return value has the same hours, minutes, and seconds component as the argument d.

Example

This example returns the date of the next Tuesday after March 15, 1992.

SELECT NEXT_DAY('15-MAR-92','TUESDAY') "NEXT DAY"
	FROM DUAL 

NEXT DAY
---------
17-MAR-92 

ROUND

Purpose

Returns d rounded to the unit specified by the format model fmt. If you omit fmt, d is rounded to the nearest day.

For details on ROUND and TRUNC, see the section "ROUND and TRUNC" .

Example

SELECT ROUND(TO_DATE('27-OCT-92'),'YEAR') 
"FIRST OF THE YEAR" 
	FROM DUAL 

FIRST OF THE YEAR
-----------------
01-JAN-93 

SYSDATE

Purpose

Returns the current date and time. Requires no arguments. In distributed SQL statements, this function returns the date and time on your local database. You cannot use this function in the condition of a CHECK constraint.

Example

SELECT TO_CHAR(SYSDATE, 'MM-DD-YYYY HH24:MI:SS') NOW
	FROM DUAL 

NOW
-------------------
10-29-1993 20:27:11. 

TRUNC

Purpose

Returns d with the time portion of the day truncated to the unit specified by the format model fmt. If you omit fmt, d is truncated to the nearest day. See the next section "ROUND and TRUNC."

Example

SELECT TRUNC(TO_DATE('27-OCT-92', 'DD-MON-YY'), 'YEAR') "First Of The Year"
	FROM DUAL 

FIRST OF THE YEAR
-----------------
01-JAN-92 

ROUND and TRUNC

Format Model	Rounding or Truncating Unit
CC SCC	Century
SYYYY YYYY YEAR SYEAR YYY YY Y	Year (rounds up on July 1)
IYYY IY IY I	ISO Year
Q	Quarter (rounds up on the sixteenth day of the second month of the quarter)
MONTH MON MM RM	Month (rounds up on the sixteenth day)
WW	Same day of the week as the first day of the year.
IW	Same day of the week as the first day of the ISO year.
W	Same day of the week as the first day of the month.
DDD DD J	Day
DAY DY D	Starting day of the week
HH HH12 HH24	Hour
MI	Minute
Table 3 - 11. Date Format Models for the ROUND and TRUNC Date Functions

The starting day of the week used by the format models DAY, DY, and D is specified implicitly by the initialization parameter NLS_TERRITORY. For information on this parameter, see the "National Language Support" chapter of Oracle7 Server Reference.

Conversion Functions

CHARTOROWID

Purpose

Converts a value from CHAR or VARCHAR2 datatype to ROWID datatype.

Example

SELECT ename
	FROM emp
	WHERE ROWID = CHARTOROWID('0000000F.0003.0002')

ENAME
-----
SMITH 

CONVERT

Purpose

Converts a character string from one character set to another.

The char argument is the value to be converted.

The dest_char_set argument is the name of the character set to which char is converted.

The source_char_set argument is the name of the character set in which char is stored in the database. The default value is the database character set.

Both the destination and source character set arguments can be either literals or columns containing the name of the character set.

For complete correspondence in character conversion, it is essential that the destination character set contains a representation of all the characters defined in the source character set. Where a character does not exist in the destination character set, a replacement character appears. Replacement characters can be defined as part of a character set definition.

Common character sets include:

US7ASCII	US 7-bit ASCII character set
WE8DEC	DEC West European 8-bit character set
WE8HP	HP West European Laserjet 8-bit character set
F7DEC	DEC French 7-bit character set
WE8EBCDIC500	IBM West European EBCDIC Code Page 500
WE8PC850	IBM PC Code Page 850
WE8ISO8859P1	ISO 8859-1 West European 8-bit character set

Example

SELECT CONVERT('Groß', 'WE8HP', 'WE8DEC') 
"Conversion" 
	FROM DUAL 

Conversion
----------
Groß 

HEXTORAW

Purpose

Converts char containing hexadecimal digits to a raw value.

Example

INSERT INTO graphics (raw_column)
 	SELECT HEXTORAW('7D') 
		FROM DUAL 

RAWTOHEX

Purpose

Converts raw to a character value containing its hexadecimal equivalent.

Example

SELECT RAWTOHEX(raw_column) "Graphics"
	FROM graphics 

Graphics
--------
7D  

ROWIDTOCHAR

Purpose

Converts a ROWID value to VARCHAR2 datatype. The result of this conversion is always 18 characters long.

Example

SELECT ROWID 
	FROM graphics
	WHERE 
	ROWIDTOCHAR(ROWID) LIKE '%F38%' 

ROWID
------------------
00000F38.0001.0001 

TO_CHAR, date conversion

Purpose

Converts d of DATE datatype to a value of VARCHAR2 datatype in the format specified by the date format fmt. If you omit fmt, d is converted to a VARCHAR2 value in the default date format. For information on date formats, see the section "Format Models" .

The 'nlsparams' specifies the language in which month and day names and abbreviations are returned. This argument can have this form:

'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE = language'

If you omit nlsparams, this function uses the default date language for your session.

Example

SELECT TO_CHAR(HIREDATE, 'Month DD, YYYY')
"New date format"
	FROM emp
	WHERE ename = 'SMITH' 

New date format
-------------------------------
December 17, 1980

TO_CHAR, label conversion

Purpose

Converts label of MLSLABEL datatype to a value of VARCHAR2 datatype, using the optional label format fmt. If you omit fmt, label is converted to a VARCHAR2 value in the default label format.

For more information on this function, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

TO_CHAR, number conversion

Purpose

Converts n of NUMBER datatype to a value of VARCHAR2 datatype, using the optional number format fmt. If you omit fmt, n is converted to a VARCHAR2 value exactly long enough to hold its significant digits. For information on number formats, see the section "Format Models" .

The 'nlsparams' specifies these characters that are returned by number format elements:

• decimal character

• group separator

• local currency symbol

• international currency symbol

This argument can have this form:

'NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = ''dg''
 NLS_CURRENCY = ''text''
 NLS_ISO_CURRENCY = territory '

The characters d and g represent the decimal character and group separator, respectively. They must be different single-byte characters. Note that within the quoted string, you must use two single quotation marks around the parameter values. Ten characters are available for the currency symbol.

If you omit 'nlsparams' or any one of the parameters, this function uses the default parameter values for your session.

Example I

SELECT TO_CHAR(-10000,'L99G999D99MI') "Amount"
	FROM DUAL
Amount
--------------------
         $10,000.00-

Note how the output above is blank padded to the left of the currency symbol.

Example II

SELECT TO_CHAR(-10000,'L99G999D99MI',
	'NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '',.''
	NLS_CURRENCY = ''AusDollars'' ') "Amount"
	FROM DUAL
Amount
--------------------
AusDollars10.000,00-

TO_DATE

Purpose

Converts char of CHAR or VARCHAR2 datatype to a value of DATE datatype. The fmt is a date format specifying the format of char. If you omit fmt, char must be in the default date format. If fmt is 'J', for Julian, then char must be an integer. For information on date formats, see the section "Format Models" .

The 'nlsparams' has the same purpose in this function as in the TO_CHAR function for date conversion.

Do not use the TO_DATE function with a DATE value for the char argument. The returned DATE value can have a different century value than the original char, depending on fmt or the default date format.

For information on date formats, see page 3 - 64.

Example

INSERT INTO bonus (bonus_date)
	SELECT TO_DATE(
		'January 15, 1989, 11:00 A.M.',
		'Month dd, YYYY, HH:MI A.M.',
		'NLS_DATE_LANGUAGE = American')
		FROM DUAL

TO_LABEL

Purpose

Converts char, a value of datatype CHAR or VARCHAR2 containing a label in the format specified by the optional parameter fmt, to a value of MLSLABEL datatype. If you omit fmt, char must be in the default label format. For more information on this function, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

TO_MULTI_BYTE

Purpose

Returns char with all of its single-byte characters converted to their corresponding multi-byte characters. Any single-byte characters in char that have no multi-byte equivalents appear in the output string as single-byte characters. This function is only useful if your database character set contains both single-byte and multi-byte characters.

TO_NUMBER

Purpose

Converts char, a value of CHAR or VARCHAR2 datatype containing a number in the format specified by the optional format model fmt, to a value of NUMBER datatype.

Example

UPDATE emp
 SET sal = sal + 
   TO_NUMBER('100.00', '9G999D99')
 WHERE ename = 'BLAKE'

The 'nlsparams' has the same purpose in this function as in the TO_CHAR function for number conversion.

Example

SELECT TO_NUMBER('-AusDollars100','L9G999D99',
   ' NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTERS = '',.''
     NLS_CURRENCY           = ''AusDollars''
   ') "Amount" 
	FROM DUAL

    Amount
----------
      -100

TO_SINGLE_BYTE

Purpose

Returns char with all of its multi-byte character converted to their corresponding single-byte characters. Any multi-byte characters in char that have no single-byte equivalents appear in the output as multi-byte characters. This function is only useful if your database character set contains both single-byte and multi-byte characters.

Other Functions

DUMP

Purpose

Returns a VARCHAR2 value containing the datatype code, length in bytes, and internal representation of expr. The argument return_format specifies the format of the return value and can have any of these values:

8 returns result in octal notation.

10 returns result in decimal notation.

16 returns result in hexadecimal notation.

17 returns result as single characters.

The arguments start_position and length combine to determine which portion of the internal representation to return. The default is to return the entire internal representation in decimal notation.

If expr is null, this function returns 'NULL'.

For the datatype corresponding to each code, see Table 2 - 1 .

Examples

SELECT DUMP(ename, 8, 3, 2) "OCTAL" 
	FROM emp
	WHERE ename = 'SCOTT' 

OCTAL
---------------------------------
Type=1 Len=5: 117,124 

SELECT DUMP(ename, 10, 3, 2) "ASCII" 
	FROM emp
	WHERE ename = 'SCOTT' 

ASCII
----------------------------
Type=1 Len=5: 79,84

SELECT DUMP(ename, 16, 3, 2) "HEX"

FROM emp WHERE ename = 'SCOTT' HEX ---------------------------- Type=1 Len=5: 4f,54 SELECT DUMP(ename, 17, 3, 2) "CHAR" FROM emp WHERE ename = 'SCOTT' CHAR ----------------------- Type=1 Len=5: O,T

GREATEST

Purpose

Returns the greatest of the list of exprs. All exprs after the first are implicitly converted to the datatype of the first exprs before the comparison. Oracle7 compares the exprs using non-padded comparison semantics. Character comparison is based on the value of the character in the database character set. One character is greater than another if it has a higher value. If the value returned by this function is character data, its datatype is always VARCHAR2.

Example

SELECT GREATEST('HARRY','HARRIOT','HAROLD') "GREATEST" 
	FROM DUAL 

GREATEST
--------
HARRY

GREATEST_LB

Purpose

Returns the greatest lower bound of the list of labels. Each label must either have datatype MLSLABEL or RAW MLSLABEL or be a quoted literal in the default label format. The return value has datatype RAW MLSLABEL.

For the definition of greatest lower bound and examples of this function, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

LEAST

Purpose

Returns the least of the list of exprs. All exprs after the first are implicitly converted to the datatype of the first expr before the comparison. Oracle7 compares the exprs using non-padded comparison semantics. If the value returned by this function is character data, its datatype is always VARCHAR2.

Example

SELECT LEAST('HARRY','HARRIOT','HAROLD') "LEAST"
	FROM DUAL 

LEAST
------
HAROLD 

LEAST_UB

Purpose

Returns the least upper bound of the list of labels. Each label must have datatype MLSLABEL or be a quoted literal in the default label format. The return value has datatype RAW MLSLABEL. For the definition of least upper bound and examples of this function, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

NVL

Purpose

If expr1 is null, returns expr2; if expr1 is not null, returns expr1. The arguments expr1 and expr2 can have any datatype. If their datatypes are different, Oracle7 converts expr2 to the datatype of expr1 before comparing them. The datatype of the return value is always the same as the datatype of expr1, unless expr1 is character data in which case the return value's datatype is VARCHAR2.

Example

SELECT ename, NVL(TO_CHAR(COMM),'NOT APPLICABLE') "COMMISSION" 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno = 30 

ENAME     COMMISSION
--------- -----------
ALLEN     300
WARD      500
MARTIN    1400
BLAKE     NOT APPLICABLE
TURNER    0
JAMES     NOT APPLICABLE 

UID

Purpose

Returns an integer that uniquely identifies the current user.

USER

Purpose

Returns the current Oracle7 user with the datatype VARCHAR2. Oracle7 compares values of this function with blank-padded comparison semantics.

In a distributed SQL statement, the UID and USER functions identify the user on your local database. You cannot use these functions in the condition of a CHECK constraint.

Example

SELECT USER, UID 
	FROM DUAL 

USER                                  UID
------------------------------ ----------
OPS$BQUIGLEY                           46

USERENV

Purpose

Returns information of VARCHAR2 datatype about the current session. This information can be useful for writing an application-specific audit trail table or for determining the language-specific characters currently used by your session. You cannot use USERENV in the condition of a CHECK constraint. The argument option can have any of these values:

'OSDBA' returns 'TRUE' if you currently have the OSDBA role enabled and 'FALSE' if you do not.

'LABEL' returns your current session label. This option is only applicable for Trusted Oracle7. For more information on this option, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

'LANGUAGE' returns the language and territory currently used by your session along with the database character set in this form: language_territory.characterset

'TERMINAL' returns the operating system identifier for your current session's terminal. In distributed SQL statements, this option returns the identifier for your local session. In a distributed environment, this is supported only for remote SELECTs, not for remote INSERTs, UPDATEs, or DELETEs.

'SESSIONID' returns your auditing session identifier. You cannot use this option in distributed SQL statements. To use this keyword in USERENV, the initialization parameter AUDIT_TRAIL must be set to TRUE.

'ENTRYID' returns available auditing entry identifier. You cannot use this option in distributed SQL statements. To use this keyword in USERENV, the initialization parameter AUDIT_TRAIL must be set to TRUE.

'CLIENT_INFO' Returns the value of the client_info field of the current session, as the last value set by the dbms_application_info.set_client_info procedure.

'LANG' Returns the ISO abbreviation for the language name, a shorter form than the existing 'LANGUAGE' parameter.

Example

SELECT USERENV('LANGUAGE') "Language" 
	FROM DUAL

Language
----------------------------------------------------
AMERICAN_AMERICA.WE8DEC

VSIZE

Purpose

Returns the number of bytes in the internal representation of expr. If expr is null, this function returns null.

Example

SELECT ename, VSIZE(ename) "BYTES" 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno = 10 

ENAME          BYTES
---------- ---------
CLARK              5
KING               4
MILLER             6 

Group Functions

Many group functions accept these options:

DISTINCT

This option causes a group function to consider only distinct values of the argument expression.

ALL

This option causes a group function to consider all values including all duplicates.

For example, the DISTINCT average of 1, 1, 1, and 3 is 2; the ALL average is 1.5. If neither option is specified, the default is ALL.

All group functions except COUNT(*) ignore nulls. You can use the NVL in the argument to a group function to substitute a value for a null.

If a query with a group function returns no rows or only rows with nulls for the argument to the group function, the group function returns null.

AVG

Purpose

Returns average value of n.

Example

SELECT AVG(sal) "Average"
	FROM emp

   Average
----------
2077.21429

COUNT

Purpose

Returns the number of rows in the query.

If you specify expr, this function returns rows where expr is not null. You can count either all rows, or only distinct values of expr.

If you specify the asterisk (*), this function returns all rows, including duplicates and nulls.

Examples

SELECT COUNT(*) "Total" 
	FROM emp 

     Total
----------
        18

SELECT COUNT(job) "Count" 
	FROM emp 

     Count
----------
        14

SELECT COUNT(DISTINCT job) "Jobs" 
	FROM emp 

      Jobs
----------
         5

GLB

Purpose

Returns the greatest lower bound of label. For the definitions of greatest lower bound and example usage, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

LUB

Purpose

Returns the least upper bound of label.

The return values have datatype MLSLABEL. For the definitions of greatest least upper bound and example usage, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

MAX

Purpose

Returns maximum value of expr.

Example

SELECT MAX(sal) "Maximum"
	FROM emp 

   Maximum
----------
      5004

MIN

Purpose

Returns minimum value of expr.

Example

SELECT MIN(hiredate) "Minimum Date"
	FROM emp 

Minimum Date
------------
17-DEC-80

Note

The DISTINCT and ALL options have no effect on the MAX and MIN functions.

STDDEV

Purpose

Returns standard deviation of x, a number. Oracle7 calculates the standard deviation as the square root of the variance defined for the VARIANCE group function.

Example

SELECT STDDEV(sal) "Deviation" 
	FROM emp 

 Deviation
----------
1182.50322

SUM

Purpose

Returns sum of values of n.

Example

SELECT SUM(sal) "Total" 
	FROM emp 

     Total
----------
     29081

VARIANCE

Purpose

Returns variance of x, a number. Oracle7 calculates the variance of x using this formula:

where:

x_i is one of the elements of x.

n is the number of elements in the set x. If n is 1, the variance is defined to be 0.

Example

SELECT VARIANCE(sal) "Variance" 
	FROM emp   

Variance
----------
1389313.87

User Functions

For example, user functions can be used in the following:

• the select list of a SELECT command

• the condition of a WHERE clause

• the CONNECT BY, START WITH, ORDER BY, and GROUP BY clauses

• the VALUES clause of an INSERT command

• the SET clause of an UPDATE command

Prequisites

To call a packaged user function, you must declare the RESTRICT_REFERENCES pragma in the package specification.

Privileges Required

Restrictions on User Functions

• cannot be used in a CHECK constraint clause of a CREATE TABLE or ALTER TABLE command

• cannot be used in a DEFAULT clause of a CREATE TABLE or ALTER TABLE command

• cannot contain OUT or IN OUT parameters

• cannot update the database

• cannot read or write package state if the function is a remote function

• cannot use the parallelism_clause in SQL commands in the function if the function alters package state

• cannot update variables defined in the function unless the function is a local function and is used in a SELECT list, VALUES clause of an INSERT command, or SET clause of an UPDATE command

Name Precedence

CREATE TABLE emp(new_sal NUMBER, ...)
CREATE FUNCTION new_sal RETURN NUMBER IS ,,,;

then in the following two statements, the reference to NEW_SAL refers to the column EMP.NEW_SAL:

SELECT new_sal FROM emp;
SELECT emp.new_sal FROM emp;

To access the function NEW_SAL, you would enter:

SELECT scott.new_sal FROM emp;

Example I

For example, to call the TAX_RATE user function from schema SCOTT, execute it against the SS_NO and SAL columns in TAX_TABLE, and place the results in the variable INCOME_TAX, specify the following:

SELECT scott.tax_rate (ss_no, sal)
	INTO income_tax
	FROM tax_table
	WHERE ss_no = tax_id;

Example II

Listed below are sample calls to user functions that are allowed in SQL expressions.

circle_area (radius)
payroll.tax_rate (empno)
scott.payroll.tax_rate (dependent, empno)@ny

Naming Conventions

• check for the PAYROLL package in the current schema

• if a PAYROLL package is not found, look for a schema name PAYROLL that contains a top-level TAX_RATE function; if no such function is found, an error message is returned

• if the PAYROLL package is found in the current schema, look for a TAX_RATE function in the PAYROLL package; if no such function is found, an error message is returned

Format Models

• to specify the format for Oracle7 to use to return a value from the database to you

• to specify the format for a value you have specified for Oracle7 to store in the database

This section describes how to use:

• number format models

• date format models

• format model modifiers

Changing the Return Format

Example I

The following statement selects the commission values of the employees in department 30 and uses the TO_CHAR function to convert these commissions into character values with the format specified by the number format model '$9,990.99':

SELECT ename employee, TO_CHAR(comm,'$9,990.99') commission 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno = 30 

EMPLOYEE   COMMISSION
---------- ----------
ALLEN         $300.00
WARD          $500.00
MARTIN      $1,400.00
BLAKE
TURNER          $0.00
JAMES

Because of this format model, Oracle7 returns the commissions with leading dollar signs, commas every three digits, and two decimal places. Note that the TO_CHAR function returns null for all employees with null in the COMM column.

Example II

The following statement selects the dates that each employee from department 20 was hired and uses the TO_CHAR function to convert these dates to character strings with the format specified by the date format model 'fmMonth DD, YYYY':

SELECT ename, TO_CHAR(Hiredate,'fmMonth DD, YYYY') hiredate 
	FROM emp 
	WHERE deptno = 20 

ENAME      HIREDATE
---------- -----------------
SMITH      December 17, 1980
JONES      April 2, 1981
SCOTT      April 19, 1987
ADAMS      May 23, 1987
FORD       December 3, 1981

With this format model, Oracle7 returns the hire dates with the month spelled out, two digits for the day, and the century included in the year.

Supplying the Correct Format

Example III

The following statement updates JONES' hire date using the TO_DATE function with the format mask 'YYYY MM DD' to convert the character string '1992 05 20' to a DATE value:

UPDATE emp 
	SET hiredate = TO_DATE('1992 05 20','YYYY MM DD') 
	WHERE ename = 'JONES' 

Number Format Models

• in the TO_CHAR function to translate a value of NUMBER datatype to VARCHAR2 datatype

• in the TO_NUMBER function to translate a value of CHAR or VARCHAR2 datatype to NUMBER datatype

Number Format Elements

If a number format model does not contain the MI, S, or PR format elements, negative return values automatically contain a leading negative sign and positive values automatically contain a leading space.

A number format model can contain only a single decimal character (D) or period (.), but it can contain multiple group separators (G) or commas (,). A number format model must not begin with a comma (,). A group separator or comma cannot appear to the right of a decimal character or period in a number format model.

Element	Example	Description
9	9999	Return value with the specified number of digits with a leading space if positive. Return value with the specified number of digits with a leading minus if negative. Leading zeros are blank, except for a zero value, which returns a zero for the integer part of the fixed point number.
0	0999 9990	Return leading zeros. Return trailing zeros.
$	$9999	Return value with a leading dollar sign.
B	B9999	Return blanks for the integer part of a fixed point number when the integer part is zero (regardless of "0"s in the format model).
MI	9999MI	Return negative value with a trailing minus sign "-". Returns positive value with a trailing blank.
S	S9999 9999S	Return negative value with a leading minus sign "-". Return positive value with a leading plus sign "+". Return negative value with a trailing minus sign "-". Return positive value with a trailing plus sign "+".
PR	9999PR	Return negative value in <angle brackets>. Return positive value with a leading and trailing blank.
D	99D99	Return a decimal point (that is, a period ".") in the specified position.
G	9G999	Return a group separator in the position specified.
C	C999	Return the ISO currency symbol in the specified position.
L	L999	Return the local currency symbol in the specified position.
, (comma)	9,999	Return a comma in the specified position.
. (period)	99.99	Return a decimal point (that is, a period ".") int the specified position.
V	999V99	Return a value multiplied by 10n (and if necessary, round it up), where n is the number of "9"s after the "V".
EEEE	9.9EEEE	Return a value using in scientific notation.
RN rn	RN	Return a value as Roman numerals in uppercase. Rerturn a value as Roman numerals in lowercase. Value can be an integer between 1 and 3999.
FM	FM90.9	Returns a value with no leading or trailing blanks.

Table 3 - 12. (continued) Number Format Elements

The MI and PR format elements can only appear in the last position of a number format model. The S format element can only appear in the first of last position of a number format model.

The characters returned by some of these format elements are specified by initialization parameters. Table 3 - 13 lists these elements and parameters.

Element	Description	Initialization Parameter
D	Decimal character	NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTER
G	Group separator	NLS_NUMERIC_CHARACTER
C	ISO currency symbol	NLS_ISO_CURRENCY
L	Local currency symbol	NLS_CURRENCY
Table 3 - 13. Number Format Element Values Determined by Initialization Parameters

The characters returned by these format elements can also be implicitly specified by the initialization parameter NLS_TERRITORY.

You can also change the characters returned by these format elements for your session with the ALTER SESSION command. For information on this command, see page 4 - 55.

For information on these parameters, see Oracle7 Server Reference. You can also change the default date format for your session with the ALTER SESSION command. For information on this command, see page 4 - 55.

Date Format Models

• in the TO_CHAR function to translate a DATE value that is in a format other than the default date format

• in the TO_DATE function to translate a character value that is in a format other than the default date format

Default Date Format

For information on these parameters, see Oracle7 Server Reference. You can also change the default date format for your session with the ALTER SESSION command. For information on this command, see page 4 - 55.

Maximum Length

Date Format Elements

Element	Meaning
- / , . ; : "text"	Punctuation and quoted text is reproduced in the result.
AD A.D.	AD indicator with or without periods.
AM A.M.	Meridian indicator with or without periods.
BC B.C.	BC indicator. with or without periods.
CC SCC	Century; "S" prefixes BC dates with "-".
D	Day of week (1-7).
DAY	Name of day, padded with blanks to length of 9 characters.
DD	Day of month (1-31).
DDD	Day of year (1-366).
DY	Abbreviated name of day.
IW	Week of year (1-52 or 1-53) based on the ISO standard.
IYY IY I	Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of ISO year.
IYYY	4-digit year based on the ISO standard.
HH HH12	Hour of day (1-12).
HH24	Hour of day (0-23).
J	Julian day; the number of days since January 1, 4712 BC. Number specified with 'J' must be integers.
MI	Minute (0-59).
MM	Month (01-12; JAN = 01)
MONTH	Name of month, padded with blanks to length of 9 characters.
MON	Abbreviated name of month.
RM	Roman numeral month (I-XII; JAN = I).
Q	Quarter of year (1, 2, 3, 4; JAN-MAR = 1)
RR	Last 2 digits of year; for years in other countries.
WW	Week of year (1-53) where week 1 starts on the first day of the year and continues to the seventh day of the year.
W	Week of month (1-5) where week 1 starts on the first day of the month and ends on the seventh.
PM P.M.	Meridian indicator with and without periods.
SS	Second (0-59).
SSSSS	Seconds past midnight (0-86399).
Y YYY	Year with comma in this position.
YEAR SYEAR	Year, spelled out; "S" prefixes BC dates with "-".
YYYY SYYYY	4-digit year; "S" prefixes BC dates with "-".
YYY YY Y	Last 3, 2, or 1 digit(s) of year.

Table 3 - 14. (continued) Date Format Elements

Date Format Elements and National Language Support

• MONTH

• MON

• DAY

• DY

• BC or AD or B.C. or A.D.

• AM or PM or A.M. or P.M.

The date format element D returns the number of the day of the week (1-7). The day of the week that is numbered 1 is specified implicitly by the initialization parameter NLS_TERRITORY.

For information on these initialization parameters, see Oracle7 Server Reference.

ISO Standard Date Format Elements

The RR Date Format Element

If you use the TO_DATE function with the YY date format element, the date value returned is always in the current century. If you use the RR date format element instead, the century of the return value varies according to the specified two-digit year and the last two digits of the current year. Table 3 - 15 summarizes the behavior of the RR date format element.

		If the specified two-digit year is
		0 - 49	50 - 99
If the last two digits of the current year are:	0-49	The return date is in the current century.	The return date is in the century before the current one.
	50-99	The return date is in the century after the current one.	The return date is in the current century.
Table 3 - 15. The RR Date Element Format

The following example demonstrates the behavior of the RR date format element.

Example IV

Assume these queries are issued before the year 2000:

SELECT TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('27-OCT-95', 'DD-MON-RR') ,'YYYY') 
"4-digit year" 
	FROM DUAL 

4-digit year
------------
1995 

SELECT TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('27-OCT-17', 'DD-MON-RR') ,'YYYY') 
"4-digit year" 
	FROM DUAL 

4-digit year
------------
2017

Assume these queries are issued in the year 2000 or after:

SELECT TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('27-OCT-95', 'DD-MON-RR') ,'YYYY') 
"4-digit year" 
	FROM DUAL 

4-digit year
------------
1995 

SELECT TO_CHAR(TO_DATE('27-OCT-17', 'DD-MON-RR') ,'YYYY') 
"4-digit year" 
	FROM DUAL 

4-digit year
------------
2017

Note that the queries return the same values regardless of whether they are issued before or after the year 2000. The RR date format element allows you to write SQL statements that will return the same values after the turn of the century.

Date Format Element Suffixes

Suffix	Meaning	Example Element	Example Value
TH	Ordinal Number	DDTH	4TH
SP	Spelled Number	DDSP	FOUR
SPTH or THSP	Spelled, ordinal number	DDSPTH	FOURTH
Table 3 - 16. Date Format Element Suffixes

When you add one of these suffixes to a date format element, the return value is always in English.

Note: Date suffixes are only valid on output and cannot be used to insert a date into the database.

Capitalization of Date Format Elements

Punctuation and Character Literals in Date Format Models

• punctuation such as hyphens, slashes, commas, periods, and colons

• character literals

Format Model Modifiers

A modifier can appear in a format model more than once. In such a case, each subsequent occurrence toggles the effects of the modifier. Its effects are enabled for the portion of the model following its first occurrence, and then disabled for the portion following its second, and then re-enabled for the portion following its third, and so on.

FM "Fill mode". This modifier suppresses blank padding in the return value of the TO_CHAR function:

• In a date format element of a TO_CHAR function, this modifier suppresses blanks in subsequent character elements (such as MONTH) and suppresses leading and trailing zeroes for subsequent number elements (such as MI) in a date format model. Since there is no blank padding, the length of the return value may vary. Without FM, the result of a character element is always right padded with blanks to a fixed length and the leading zero are always returned for a number element.

• In a number format element of a TO_CHAR function, this modifier suppresses blanks added to the left of the number in the result to right-justify it in the output buffer. Without FM, the result is always right-justified in the buffer, resulting in blank-padding to the left of the number.

• Punctuation and quoted text in the character argument must exactly match (except for case) the corresponding parts of the format model. Without FX, punctuation and quoted text in the character argument need only match the length and position of the corresponding parts of the format model.

• The character argument cannot have extra blanks. Without FX, Oracle7 ignores extra blanks.

• Numeric data in the character argument must have the same number of digits as the corresponding element in the format model. Without FX, numbers in the character argument can omit leading zeroes.

When FX is enabled, you can disable this check for leading zeroes by using the FM modifier as well.

Example V

Table 3 - 17 shows the results of the following query for different values of number and 'fmt':

SELECT TO_CHAR(number, 'fmt')
	FROM dual 

number	'fmt'	Result
-1234567890	9999999999S	'1234567890-'
0	99.99	' 0.00'
+0.1	99.99	' .10'
-0.2	99.99	' -.20'
0	90.99	' 0.00'
+0.1	90.99	' .10'
-0.2	90.99	' -0.20'
0	9999	' 0'
1	9999	' 1'
0	B9999	' '
1	B9999	' 1'
0	B90.99	' '
+123.456	999.999	' 123.456'
-123.456	999.999	'-123.456'
+123.456	FM999.009	'123.456'
+123.456	9.9EEEE	' 1.2E+02'
+1E+123	9.9EEEE	' 1.0E+123'
+123.456	FM9.9EEEE	'1.23E+02'
+123.45	FM999.009	'123.45'
+123.0	FM999.009	'123.00'
+123.45	L999.99	' $123.45'
+123.45	FML99.99	'$123.45'
+1234567890	9999999999S	'1234567890+'
Table 3 - 17. Results of Example Number Conversions

Example VI

The following statement uses a date format model to return a character expression that contains the character literal "the" and a comma.

SELECT TO_CHAR(SYSDATE, 'fmDDTH "of" Month, YYYY') Ides 
	FROM DUAL 

Ides 
------------------ 
3RD of April, 1995

Note that the following statement also uses the FM modifier. If FM is omitted, the month is blank-padded to nine characters:

SELECT TO_CHAR(SYSDATE, 'DDTH "of" Month, YYYY') Ides 
	FROM DUAL 

Ides 

----------------------- 
03RD of April    , 1995 

You can include a single quotation mark in the return value by placing two consecutive single quotation marks in the format model.

Example VII

The following statement places a single quotation mark in the return value by using a date format model that includes two consecutive single quotation marks:

SELECT TO_CHAR(SYSDATE, 'fmDay''"s Special"') Menu 
	FROM DUAL 

Menu 
----------------- 
Tuesday's Special 

Two consecutive single quotation marks can also be used for the same purpose within a character literal in a format model.

Example VIII

Table 3 - 18 shows whether the following statement meets the matching conditions for different values of char and 'fmt' using FX:

UPDATE table 
	SET date_column = TO_DATE(char, 'fmt')

char	'fmt'	Match or Error?
'15/ JAN /1993'	'DD-MON-YYYY'	Match
' 15! JAN % /1993'	'DD-MON-YYYY'	Match
'15/JAN/1993'	'FXDD-MON-YYYY'	Error
'15-JAN-1993'	'FXDD-MON-YYYY'	Match
'1-JAN-1993'	'FXDD-MON-YYYY'	Error
'01-JAN-1993'	'FXDD-MON-YYYY'	Error
'1-JAN-1993'	'FXFMDD-MON-YYYY'	Match
Table 3 - 18. Matching Character Data and Format Models with the FX Format Model Modifier

Expr

Purpose

Syntax

Form I

In addition to the schema of a user, schema can also be "PUBLIC" (double quotation marks required), in which case it must qualify a public synonym for a table, view, or snapshot. Qualifying a public synonym with "PUBLIC" is only supported in Data Manipulation Language commands, not Data Definition Language commands.

The pseudocolumn can be either LEVEL, ROWID, or ROWNUM. You can only use a pseudocolumn with a table, rather than with a view or snapshot. For more information on pseudocolumns, see the section "Pseudocolumns" .

ROWLABEL is a column automatically created by Trusted Oracle7 in every table in the database. If you are using Trusted Oracle7, the expression ROWLABEL returns the row's label. If you are not using Trusted Oracle7, the expression ROWLABEL always returns NULL. For information on using labels and ROWLABEL, see Trusted Oracle7 Server Administrator's Guide.

Examples

emp.ename 'this is a text string' 10

Form II

Examples

:employee_name INDICATOR :employee_name_indicator_var

:department_location 

Form III

For information on SQL functions, see the section "SQL Functions" .

Examples

LENGTH('BLAKE') ROUND(1234.567*43) SYSDATE

Form IV

For information on user functions, see the section "User Functions" .

Examples

circle_area(radius) payroll.tax_rate(empno) scott.payrol.tax_rate(dependents, empno)@ny

Form V

Note that some combinations of functions are inappropriate and are rejected. For example, the LENGTH function is inappropriate within a group function.

Examples

('CLARK' || 'SMITH') LENGTH('MOOSE') * 57 SQRT(144) + 72 my_fun(TO_CHAR(sysdate,'DD-MMM-YY')

Decoded Expression

To evaluate this expression, Oracle7 compares expr to each search value one by one. If expr is equal to a search, Oracle7 returns the corresponding result. If no match is found, Oracle7 returns default, or, if default is omitted, returns null. If expr and search contain character data, Oracle7 compares them using non-padded comparison semantics. For information on these semantics, see the section "Datatype Comparison Rules" .

The search, result, and default values can be derived from expressions. Oracle7 evaluates each search value only before comparing it to expr, rather than evaluating all search values before comparing any of them with expr. Consequently, Oracle7 never evaluates a search if a previous search is equal to expr.

Oracle7 automatically converts expr and each search value to the datatype of the first search value before comparing. Oracle7 automatically converts the return value to the same datatype as the first result. If the first result has the datatype CHAR or if the first result is null, then Oracle7 converts the return value to the datatype VARCHAR2. For information on datatype conversion, see the section "Data Conversion" .

In a DECODE expression, Oracle7 considers two nulls to be equivalent. If expr is null, Oracle7 returns the result of the first search that is also null.

The maximum number of components in the DECODE expression, including expr, searches, results, and default is 255.

Example

This expression decodes the value DEPTNO. If DEPTNO is 10, the expression evaluates to 'ACCOUNTING'; if DEPTNO is 20, it evaluates to 'RESEARCH'; etc. If DEPTNO is not 10, 20, 30, or 40, the expression returns 'NONE'.

DECODE (deptno,10,	'ACCOUNTING', 

				20,	'RESEARCH', 

				30,	'SALES', 

				40,	'OPERATION', 

					'NONE') 

List of Expressions

An expression list can contain up to 254 expressions.

Examples

(10, 20, 40) 

('SCOTT', 'BLAKE', 'TAYLOR') 

(LENGTH('MOOSE') * 57, -SQRT(144) + 72, 69) 

Usage Notes

This simple expression evaluates to 4 and has datatype NUMBER (the same datatype as its components):

2*2 

The following expression is an example of a more complex expression that uses both functions and operators. The expression adds seven days to the current date, removes the time component from the sum, and converts the result to CHAR datatype:

TO_CHAR(TRUNC(SYSDATE+7)) 

You can use expressions in any of these places:

• the select list of the SELECT command

• a condition of the WHERE and HAVING clauses

• the CONNECT BY, START WITH, and ORDER BY clauses

• the VALUES clause of the INSERT command

• the SET clause of the UPDATE command

SET ename = 'smith' 

This SET clause has the expression LOWER(ENAME) instead of the quoted string 'smith':

SET ename = LOWER(ename) 

Related Topics

Condition

Purpose

Syntax

Form I

For information on comparison operators, see the section "Comparison Operators" .

Form II

For the syntax of a subquery, see page 4 - 431.

Form III

Form IV

Form V

Form VI

Form VII

Form VIII

Usage Notes

• DELETE

• SELECT

• UPDATE

• WHERE

• START WITH

• CONNECT BY

• HAVING

The following is a simple condition that always evaluates to TRUE:

1 = 1 

The following is a more complex condition that adds the SAL value to the COMM value (substituting the value 0 for null) and determines whether the sum is greater than the number constant 2500:

NVL(sal, 0) + NVL(comm, 0) > 2500 

Logical operators can combine multiple conditions into a single condition. For example, you can use the AND operator to combine two conditions:

(1 = 1) AND (5 < 7) 

For more information on how to evaluate conditions with logical operators, see the section "Logical beginning" .

Examples

ename = 'SMITH' 

emp.deptno = dept.deptno 

hiredate > '01-JAN-88' 

job IN ('PRESIDENT', 'CLERK', 'ANALYST') 

sal BETWEEN 500 AND 1000 

comm IS NULL AND sal = 2000 

Related Topics

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